At 9.40 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 386 points, or 0.63 per cent, lower at 60,756.94. The Nifty50 fell to 18,073, down 137 points or 0.75 per cent.
“The range of 18,100-18,000 is key support for Nifty50. As of now, we do not see any indication of Nifty50 breaching this important support zone on the expiry day itself but it may happen sooner or later. On the higher side, 18,350-18,400 remains a sturdy wall,” said Sameet Chavan of Angel Broking.
Analysts also believe that in the coming days, the primary market with its keenly watched IPOs is likely to be the center of attraction, that can dampen secondary market appeal.
“The Nykaa and Paytm IPOs totalling around Rs 24,000 crore are likely to witness enthusiastic investor response and this will drain away some liquidity from the secondary market. This may keep the secondary market rather subdued, but sharp reactions to results will lead to volatility in individual stocks. On the flip side, the new Covid variant AY 4.2 has emerged as a new concern. China imposing price curbs on coal will have implications for global coal and metal prices. This can restrain the rally in metal stocks, which has been the best performing segment of the market in this rally,” said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
In stock-specific moves, shares of
fell 3.94 per cent to Rs 2,363, even as the Tata group firm reported a nearly four-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 641 crore for the September quarter.
Tata Steel shares declined 1.92 per cent to Rs 1,299. Axis Bank fell 1.60 per cent to Rs 774. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and ITC shed over 1 per cent each.
ITC reported a 13.67 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in standalone net profit at Rs 3,697.18 crore compared with Rs 3,252.62 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
climbed 4.13 per cent to Rs 1,189 as the September quarter profit rose sharply led by the strongest growth in its loan book since CEO Sumant Kathpalia took charge in March 2020. Larsen &Tourbo, Bajaj Auto and UltraTech Cement rose up to 2.5 per cent.
Bajaj Finserv, Adani Green Energy, Adani Total Gas, NPTC, SBI Cards & Payment Services, DLF, Interglobe Aviation, Marico, Tata Power, Bajaj Holdings and Investments, Gujarat Gas, AU Small Finance Bank, Laurus Labs and Indian Bank are among the companies that will announce their September quarter results today.
Global Markets
Global stocks eased from record peaks as a stark reminder of supply chain snags in corporate earnings reports stalled their rally, while investors also looked to whether central banks may consider tightening monetary policy earlier than thought.
MSCI’s gauge of world stocks, ACWI, dipped 0.05 per cent in early Thursday trade, with Japan’s Nikkei leading the loss with fall of 1.1 per cent.
Mainland Chinese shares slipped 0.2 per cent while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ticked down 0.1 per cent.
